Even at my ghostly appearance, Chung wasn’t frightened and continued speaking in a voice that hadn’t changed by a speck.
“So. Will you forgive the people who gave you that education?”
“No! No!! Absolutely! Absolutely, absolutely!!”
I roared while stomping my feet. Even if I looked like a madman, I couldn’t stop. My face turned bright red with rage.
“What about the people who sent you here to receive education?”
“Yes!!”
The victors who sent me here. My blood relatives who must be raising toasts. The hatred toward them burns through my blood and scorches my brain. The seething, boiling blood presents pain, but it doesn’t matter. It was hatred I had to remember even if my life were to end.
Red butterflies flew around Jin Chung like sparks. Flutter flutter. That appearance like scattering flowers felt as if they were alive by consuming his vitality.
Somehow, watching that fluttering dance calmed me down. As I gradually calmed down, Jin Chung looked straight at me and said.
“Me too.”
“……”
“I have no intention of leaving those bastards who deserve hexing alone either. Even if they’re dead, I’ll dismember their corpses and make sure they can’t live their own lives properly.”
Jin Chung smiled brightly. The smile that bloomed nourished by suffering truly brought to mind a peerless beauty. That face grinning with teeth bared really looked like it didn’t have a single misfortune.
But behind it, hundreds of butterflies surged like a storm as if representing Chung’s heart. The fluttering appearance from moments ago couldn’t be found. The swarm of butterflies looked like demon wings made of blood membrane.
Only then did I feel that he too was no different from me. I could realize that he was the same race as me, one who lived nourished by rage. I sat down with such large movement that it made a thud sound. Perhaps due to mental exhaustion, extreme fatigue came over me.
“Fine.”
“Will you take my hand?”
“Yes.”
Jin Chung demurely extended his hand. It was a hand as pretty and smooth as a doll’s. I gripped the hand that was smaller and prettier than mine without hesitation, strongly. The white hand like white jade turned red as blood didn’t flow through it.
I deliberately gripped hard to see a change in expression, but when there was no change at all, I clicked my tongue inwardly and let go of the hand.
“Then I’ll send a guide after all classes end and before bedtime.”
“Got it.”
Jin Chung finally rose from his seat and arranged the wrinkled hem. Trivial tasks that someone of his noble status would normally have no reason to do. Low-quality uniform. Each time I confirmed those things one by one, my teeth ground. Because it felt like it was reminding me of my circumstances once again.
By the way…… there was something that bothered me. I opened my mouth while looking at Chung who was about to turn around.
“Jin.”
“You can call me Chung.”
He turned to look at me, holding his hands together and smiling politely.
“But why are you wearing those clothes?”
“……Clothes? Is there a problem with me?”
For the first time, a crack appeared in his perfect smile. Jin Chung was clearly known as a princess of Garan Kingdom. Therefore, the uniform he was wearing was a women’s uniform given to female students. The skirt that came down to his ankles was neat, but it had an old-fashioned aspect, showing how outdated the design was.
I felt great delight at Chung being flustered by my words and even pointed my finger as I continued speaking.
“That’s women’s clothing. Aren’t you a man?”
“Oh my…… Does it not suit me?”
The action of frivolously lifting up the neat, long skirt was an appearance I never thought I’d see from him. The long, white legs like a deer’s that showed slightly between the skirt were captivating enough to steal one’s gaze. However, I looked straight at Chung’s face without even giving a glance in that direction.
“So?”
Chung finally gave up at my gaze that didn’t even budge and sighed with a laugh. But there was no despair or anything like that in that appearance. Having seen a fragment of joy for some unknown reason, I felt defeated somewhere and frowned.
“You caught on?”
* * *
Dark night. Before me, Belly shed tears profusely in human form. The tear drops like beads looked so pitiful just to see. I was flustered and wiped around his eyes with a handkerchief at Belly who was crying enough to thoroughly soak my pants.
“Belly, do you hate Sayed so much that you cry like this?”
“……Yes.”
Belly, who answered with a swollen face, showed extreme rejection rarely.
He doesn’t interfere with my novel reading. Though there were many times he was anxious, he always maintained the position of a pet in the form of a small lizard by Jay’s side. If that weren’t the case, I would have seriously considered leaving Belly behind.
“You attacked him when we met in the corridor too.”
But the behavior Belly was showing now was different from before. He was interfering excessively with the story. He was doing things that couldn’t be done from the position of an ordinary lizard.
That day when Belly breathed fire at Sayed who was pinning down Jay. It wasn’t strong firepower, it was an attack like a small spark. But Sayed definitely recognized Belly through that attack. He must have also noticed that Jay, who had such a lizard, was not an ordinary existence either.
“But…… he attacked Master.”
“Me? When? He’s never met me in his right mind.”
Jay was a character I created. Though he was borrowing my body, with the ability called Persona, it was as good as being completely separated from me. So even if other characters attacked and oppressed Jay, I didn’t get angry.
Rather, if he had insulted Belly? Then I would have been angry. Because he’s a character I like.
On the other hand, Jay wasn’t even a character I liked. But Belly seemed to think differently from me. As if bursting out with what he’d been holding in, he shouted at me.
“But…… he attacked Jay Doe!”
“Belly. Jay is just a character, not me.”
“Jay Doe uses the same body as Master! In the end, it’s Master who gets hurt!”
Belly’s worry was valid. However, though I understood that worry, I couldn’t empathize with it. Getting hurt due to Jay’s actions was pain to the degree of cutting one’s hand while reading a book. Of course, it hurt more than being cut by paper, but that was all.
But separately, I was pleased by Belly’s worry. The protagonist character of this world that I like. The goodwill such a character showed toward me who was nothing made me feel as if I had become something.
“Yes, our Belly is good. You even worry about hyung.”
Belly slowly closed his eyes and embraced my body. He who rubbed his head as if acting spoiled was always my lovable Belly. To monopolize Belly’s affection that might disappear at any time, I embraced him even more tightly.
* * *
Suddenly looking around, I could tell it wasn’t the professors’ dormitory. It was a space I was coming to for the first time in my life. A bit shabby, but a cozy place touched by human hands.
Out of curiosity, while looking around the room here and there, I discovered a dirty mirror, and I reflected in it was very young. I looked similar to when I had just possessed this world. No, I even looked a bit younger.
I could state with certainty that this appearance wasn’t in my memory. But since I didn’t have the original owner of this body’s memories, I thought it might be related to that.
“What is this……?”
While looking around with my body that had become small, I pinched my cheek. Everything around was so realistic that I wondered if I had regressed, but I could realize it was a dream from the pain I couldn’t feel.
Well, normally in a situation like this it’s a dream, I wouldn’t think I had regressed. I really…… seem to have read too many novels.
Thinking it was a dream, my mood lightened considerably and I started looking around as if flying. Looking around the narrow room was quickly finished. I went outside the room.
This place where I was seemed to be probably a home. Though it had a somewhat musty feeling, still, human touch was on it here and there. Compared to the building I was in when I first possessed Jack’s body, it was like heaven.
If this really is Jack’s real past…… why did he end up in that begging organization?
Then I discovered small picture frames placed on a table in the corridor. I examined the frame that was out in front among them.
“The owner of this house?”
A couple with ordinary faces having brown hair and one child presumed to be their offspring. The couple’s faces were stiffly hardened and weariness oozed from around their eyes. The child looked a bit older than my current body. A mischievous smile was noticeable.
In many ways, they seemed like an ordinary family.
“……Huh?”
My chest suddenly became cold and I rubbed it. Why am I suddenly like this? I looked at the photo again to see if there was something strange, but unable to find anything peculiar, I turned my gaze to the side.
“Ugh……”
Next to their photo was a small picture of me…… a small frame with this current body photographed. The emaciated, gaunt boy looked as if he bore all the world’s misfortunes. That frame covered in dust was heterogeneous, as if wanting to separate the boy from the family.
The moment I saw that, my chest hurt as if stabbed by a knife and I let out a groan. It was an emotion and pain I couldn’t understand.
“What…… is this?”
I looked around so fiercely that it made a wind sound. The simple and affectionate air seemed to pass by only me. The chest pain tightened even more.
I had become accustomed to Jack’s body. I only tried to find memories at the beginning of possession, now I didn’t even have finding memories in mind. I also didn’t think about finding family. It was partly because I thought of him as a begging boy without any connections, but…… it was because Rose and Belly could be called my family.
“I…… am not.”
Jack’s original family and such things have nothing to do with me. I wasn’t ‘Jack’. I…… have no reason to hurt like this.
While swallowing my thoughts into my mouth, I kicked off the creaking floorboards and ran. However, as if the photos behind me grabbed my ankles, I couldn’t go far. No matter how much I ran, when I looked back, I was right in front of the photos.
